Floor of Pu‘u ‘O‘o Crater collapsing Saturday (March 5)

The floor of Pu‘u O‘o crater appears to have collapsed from the live webcam on the crater rim. The view may sometimes be obscured by clouds and fumes at the vent. The image is a composite of eight still images and is in the camera’s ‘night-mode’ so it is not in color.

Hawaii Volcano Observatory/USGS Volcanic Activity Notice

Volcano: Kilauea (CAVW #1302-01-)

Current Volcano Alert Level: WARNINGCurrent Aviation Color Code: RED

Issued: Saturday, March 5, 2011, 5:39 PM HST (20110306/0339Z)

Source: Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

Volcanic Activity Summary: At 1:42 p.m. this afternoon, HVO instruments indicated the onset of rapid deflation at Pu’u ‘Ō’ō and increased tremor along Kīlauea’s middle east rift zone. At 2:00 p.m., Kīlauea’s summit began to deflate.

Between 2:16 and 2:21 p.m., the floor of the Pu’u ‘Ō’ō crater began to collapse, and within 10 minutes, incandescent ring fractures opened on the crater floor a few tens of meters away from the crater wall. As the floor continued to drop, lava appeared in the center of the crater floor, the NE spatter cone collapsed, and an obvious scarp developed on the west side of the crater floor, with lava cascading over the scarp toward the center of the crater.

At 2:41 p.m., the scarp on the west side of the crater floor appeared to disintegrate, exposing incandescent rubble, and the lava in the center of the crater enlarged.

At 2:46 p.m., the collapse of a large block along the east crater wall produced a dust plume and the lava continued to enlarge.

Webcam images showed that the Pu’u ‘Ō’ō crater floor continued to drop through 4:26 p.m., when fume obscured the camera view.

Coincident with the collapse, an earthquake swarm began along Kīlauea’s middle east rift zone in the area of Maka`opuhi and Nāpau craters. Tiltmeters in this area show continued deflation.

I enjoyed watching this clip and it was very informative. I grew up in Kennett, MO, just 40 miles SW of New Madrid and its famous fault, so I’ve experienced a lot of shaking over the years.

One point you might be interested in, is that you are mispronouncing the name New Madrid. Madrid, Spain, is pronounced with the accent on the second syllable, whereas New Madrid locals in MO, pronounce it with the accent on the first syllable. Thought you might want to know the correct usage.